Blackberry Ice Cream

Ooooh blackberries we meet again.
Alright. So I’m not completely over my Ice Cream kick. I’ve tried I don’t even know how many different kinds in the past week or so in the laboratory/kitchen. This one hit the spot, along with that dreamy Very Vanilla. *drools*

 

It also coincides with the blackberry posts that were suppose to be happening with all my berries…. Unfortunately we happened to be gone more than I thought (Cascade Lakes Relay anyone?) during peek season and a few of the recipes I wanted to nail are not up to par yet, so I’m working with my last berries of summer, but hoping to bring a couple lovely berry recipes to the table/blog soon. This guy just happened to follow along with my Ice Cream obsession….

For realsies. I may or may not have a bowl with me as I type.

I also have been getting a lot of berry thieves as of late… at least they’re cute.

This berry recipe is filled with the taste of summer, sunshine, berry goodness and also got two thumbs up from my live in taste tester (aka my hubby Jake).

Photo ops are difficult when the Ice Cream keeps dissapearing.

To make this berry awesomeness your going to need about 3 cups of blackberries. I’m still working on perfecting a few other kinds of berries (strawberries anyone?) as they all freeze a little differently and want different cream ratios.

This little baby is also a custard base like the vanilla, but is tweaked a tad to allow for the berries. (Since adding berries is like adding water and can make it icy.)

Heat up the cream, sugar and salt over medium to high heat depending on how fast you want the custard process to go.

Stirring about 2-3 minutes, heat until the sugar is combined and you cannot feel the sugar with a finger test.

Turn off the heat and scoop out about a half cup of the warmed liquid and slowly mix it into your egg yolks to raise their temp so they don’t scramble.

Then turn on the burner back to medium to high, and add the egg mixture slowly while stirring.

Heat from 5-10 minutes, until thickened, depending on how hot your stove is. Stirring the WHOLE time. Scoop those corners! Mine takes about 6 minutes.

Not ready…

Getting there….

Done!

Now strain ASAP!

Chill this mixture in the fridge for a bit before churning. I would suggest 4+ hours or overnight but I have made it after only chilling for an hour or so and it worked. While it is cooling grab those berries!

If you like seeds, go ahead and just puree them with the lime or lemon juice. If you do not wish for seeds then puree them and then strain out the seeds.

It took me about 5 minutes of stirring with the spatula to get the seeds to strain out…

Then your left with a blob of seeds you can save for another tasty treat, or toss.

Seeds or seedless, you should have a nice puree to add to your custard soon.

After the custard has chilled, pour into your prepared Ice Cream Machine. 

Then add Puree.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Turn on the machine and let it do it’s thang for about 30 minutes.

YUM.

Enjoy now as soft serve constancy, or put in a container and put in the freezer.

Try not to get a brain freeze from excited taste testing…

A Few Extra Ice Cream Tips:

– Eggs give the ice cream that velvety texture, and work as an awesome binder when freezing to prevent ice crystals but they also add to the custard (egg) like taste. You can make the ice cream with fewer eggs but it may affect consistancy.

– You can add more berry puree, but I found it does make it a bit more icy.

– Milk and Cream can also be adjusted, but may affect consistacy.

– When Mixing in the machine it puts air into the mixture which means more bubbles, which equals more fluffy. However, that also means less rich. I taste test mine periodically until it’s just right. (Most machines are done at 30 minutes which is about right!)

– Sugar wise, we decided we enjoyed this one a bit on the sweeter side. This changes depending on your berries also! Taste test and decide how sweet you wanna go… I would stick between 1/3 and 2/3 a cup.

– Homemade Ice Cream does not have all those fancy preservatives, therefore it does not hold up as well in the freezer and it’s suggested to eat it within the first week so it doesn’t get weird texture or taste wise.